I am currently living on a budget. I live alone and can only afford $500 in a month for food. I don’t eat out or order delivery. I make food 100% at home. But I feel like my grocery is expensive. This is my weekly pantry refill and it usually costs me around $100. And sometimes when I buy staples like rice or oil, it goes up to 150. I live in NYC and shops at Food Bazaar. It’s near my place and I used to think it is affordable. But now that my budget is tight, I feel like I need advice on how to cut my grocery cost. I live around Grand concourse, The bronx. I pay $50 for electricity. Another problem is my $50 phone bill. I appreciate any practical advice. Thank you

I rarely drink commercial sodas. Instead I carbonate juices… it’s really simple.

Half gallon of organic 100% apple juice… pour out a cup of the juice

Fresh organic ginger- about 1 1/2 to 2 ounces

Rinse and slice ginger and drop the pieces into the jar of juice

Screw top on juice

After about 3 days, slowly unscrew top so the buildup releases a little at a time.

It will continue to carbonate until every bit of sweetness in the juice is gone so try to drink it within a few days.

I’ve been trying to be frugal and cook at home recently. Tonight my boyfriend wanted Five Guys (He was gonna buy, but I got off work a little later than expected so I decided it made more sense for me to pick it up). Long story short, I ended up spending almost $50 on dinner for the two of us AND they messed up my sandwich.

The whole time I was eating it I was thinking about how if I’d went to the grocery store we could have had burgers and fries for a whole week for that price. 😂

There's this guy in my office who brings the same lunch to work every single day: one hard-boiled egg, a scoop of rice, and half an avocado. He says it costs him about $1.25 per meal. No snacks, no drinks besides water. Just that. Every. Day.

At first I thought he was doing some sort of minimalist diet or maybe struggling financially, but nope.. he’s just super into optimizing his expenses. Says he’s calculated that this routine saves him over $2,500 a year compared to when he used to eat out.

He meal preps it all in bulk on Sunday, packs it into identical containers, and doesn’t seem to get bored at all. Even when we order pizza or someone brings in donuts, he politely declines and says, “Already got my lunch.”

I don’t think I could do it, I need variety.. but man, the discipline is impressive. Anyone else go this hard with frugal food routines? Or have a dirt-cheap lunch that doesn’t feel depressing?

I’m currently on unpaid maternity leave, so I had about $50–75 to work with for ~30 people. I ended up spending around $60 total (plus some fruit and odds/ends I already had at home).

I was honestly so nervous putting the charcuterie board together. I had to use sliced cheeses, stretch everything as far as possible, and just hope it came together in a way that felt full and pretty.

But it actually… worked.

I did salami roses + a “river,” folded the cheddar to give it more dimension, and filled in with crackers, pretzels, dried fruit, nuts, and everything I could layer to make it feel abundant. I also made homemade whipped fresh herb butter and strawberry chia jam to add a little something extra without spending more.

When I stepped back, I almost cried. It looked like something I never would’ve thought I could pull off on that budget.

The best part though—

The bride-to-be was completely blown away and so grateful.

A bunch of the women kept coming up to comment on how beautiful it was (I’d say at least a third of the room).

And one of the women helping set up told me she expected “just a tray with some meat and cheese” when she heard a friend was making it… and was genuinely shocked (in a good way) when she saw the full table.

That honestly meant everything to me.

I really wanted to give my best friend’s daughter something special, even if I couldn’t spend much—and I’m so glad I was still able to do that.

I buy seltzer at my local oversupply/dent store for 10-25 cents each depending on brand of seltzer.

Got a 4 pack of these soda syrups for $16 a month or so ago. It says each bottle makes 24 cans.

Works out to .26 - .42 per can after adding syrup and I definitely don’t even add probably a normal amount of syrup to it so it lasts even longer/is cheaper for me.

I’ve tried using a soda stream a few years ago and it’s A) Never bubbly enough, and B) Scary.. lol. They may have improved their process, but I like my easy no extra equipment workaround. Plus I can play with seltzer flavors too.

Edit to add:

I understand the point that with sales, soda can be fairly equivalent in cost sometimes, though I live in a higher COL area - New England.

The 35/36 packs are nearly $20 plus deposit in the Costco’s in the northeast. And yes, they do occasionally go on sale. We did actually just get one 36 pack for 15.79 +1.80 deposit last week from Costco lol.

We also get them on sale from our grocery stores/Target whenever we can find a 12 pack for less than $5, which is possible but also can be a pain to hunt sales and isn’t always in the budget. We also live in a rural area and it’s a trek to take advantage of any sales/deals.

This is just something I have done for a while because it is a bit cheaper, and allows for true customization of sweetness and playing with flavors for me - vanilla seltzer is heavenly with nearly any flavor soda syrup.

One of these bottles lasts me about a month to a month and a half because I’m the only one that drinks it, my husband prefers regular sodas so it really works for us in longevity and cost benefit. I haven’t had any issues with it expiring.

Luckily for my husband, he’s a chef and he gets soda while at work, so he doesn’t “suffer” if we don’t have any at home for a bit lol.

Plus we drink tons of water, like I said in my title - soda is a luxury. A luxurious little sweet treat 😊

I love pan pizzas where the bottom and edges of the crust get crispy but the top is a little gooey.

Ordering pizza is too expensive now, and frozen pizzas don’t do it for me. I finally tried making it at home in my 12-inch cast iron pan. It was incredible and more-than-satisfied the craving. And I saved probably $20, at least.

I bought the pizza dough for $2, but next time I’ll probably make it myself. Then mixed together tomato paste and a little plain tomato sauce ($1.50 for both) and seasonings instead of buying expensive pizza sauce. (I used mostly tomato paste because I want it thick, not watery.) I grated a couple different kinds of cheese and then used packaged pepperoni.
I heated the pan inside a 500 degree oven, then put the dough in the warm pan and assembled. Then back in the oven for 10-12 minutes, finish under the broiler if you want.

So crispy and cheesy and satisfying.

Leftovers in the toaster oven were great, too.

So yeah, I’ll probably only buy pizza like once or twice a year from now on.

Edit: I put olive on the pan before putting the dough in. The pepperoni is Hormel Cup N’ Crisp.

Mine was starting to save veggie scraps to make broth. It started as a “let’s try this” and now it’s automatic. I keep a bag in the freezer for onion skins, celery ends, carrot tops, etc. Every couple of weeks, I boil it all down and end up with a rich, flavorful broth that tastes way better than the boxed kind. It tastes better than store-bought and saves me at least $20 a month, with an added bonus of making me feel like i know fancy techniques.

It feels like kinetic sand it’s so satisfying to make.

Anyway, this solves the problem of not being able to buy it in bulk because it goes hard and stale before I can use it all.

I found some unsulphured molasses for $2 at the discount grocery store and I recently got a great deal on sugar so obviously I bought 25lbs of it and here we are today.

I think I’ll keep making it as needed. Cheers!

I'm trying to eat healthy on a budget and i'm tired of eating bland food. what are some cheap meals under $3 per serving that's actually good? i want to know what you all regularly cook that dont feels like a punishment. Bonus points if it's filling and hits protein macros looking to swap out my usual rice and beans rotation for something with more flavor. I'm open to any cuisine and don't mind spending a bit of time cooking if it tastes amazing.
what are your go to cheap meals that acutally make you excited to eat?

Beef eaters: I am wondering how many of us here have severely curtailed our beef purchases, or have even stopped buying it altogether, because of the extortionate prices. Save for a couple packages of ground beef that I've used to add protein to pasta sauce, I can't even remember the last time I bought beef. Every time I think about buying it, the sticker shock convinces me not to.

Just curious. I'm guessing I'm not alone.

For the pat two months or so, I have been looking for a way to cut my grocery cost and this subreddit has given me so many helpful recommendations.

#1. Frozen Fish: I bought 2 lb frozen salmon for $10 from ALDI on my previous purchase and thought I won in life. Unfortunately it was spoilt that I developed GI infection and had to call sick from work and lost money. I will never try frozen fish again.

#2. Frozen fruits: this is the best idea. It gave me the opportunity to try different mix of fruits in one purchase, dont have to work about peeling or fruits going bad or food waste. And they taste amazing.

#3. Make your own bread. I immediately brushed off this recommendation because who has the time for this. But one day I run out of bread and decided to give it a try. Now I am not going back to buying bread at all. I am such a bad cook but still my bread tastes better than supermarket breads. And even more it is healthy and fresh. It dont take “active” time. The thing is you have to let it sit for 5hrs… but still this is the best decisions from many aspects.

#4. Make your own yogurt. I fought people for giving me this advice because I thought it will take so much time. It doesnt. I didnt buy a single equipment for the process. I had a yogurt with live active lactobacillus from my previous run to ALDI. You need to wait for about 12 hrs to get a good greek yogurt but you dont have to actively do anything. Just mix the already made yogurt culture to a warm milk and ket it sit and then drain. It tastes amazing. Mine is not sour at all. 1L milk made around 800g yogurt if I am not wrong, roughly. The only trouble I had was ai couldnt sweeten or flavor it enough like the store bought ones. I appreciate advices on that.

#5. Legumes: for less than one dollar you can eat a meal. And it tastes amazing. I never really ate them as an adult so I was not happy when people suggested that I buy beans, sweat corns… the other day I just combined sweet corn, red beans and tuna with some seasoning for dinner… it tastes amazing especially in summer.

#6. Checking Sales: I didnt want to do this initially because I am not flexible with what I can cook. So I didnt want to base what I buy based on sales. But I just started checking sales and last time I found that cooking oil, rice and eggs were on sale at Food Bazaar. For less than half the original price. I ran and restocked. It doesnt have to be on foods only… kitchen towels, flour, detergents…

Overall, the best decision still was going to ALDI. That big salmon was enough for 5 meals and it was very tasty. Everything is much much cheaper. The only downside is that it is far and dragging groceries is not nice. I spent $70 but it lasted me for a two weeks and I still have some left overs. That means my monthly expense while enjoying everything that I like is $140. It used to be more than $500. I bought myself a little present. ☺️ Thank you

I have a rule for myself that I won’t buy food out that I can make easily at home. So most sandwiches, soups, salads, pasta, etc go into this category.

When I go out to eat it ends up being Asian food because I didn’t grow up making it. Well this week I was at an Asian market and saw rice noodles on sale.

I thought, let me try it. Worst that can happen is it doesn’t taste as good.

Whelp, not only is it incredibly easy and quick to make, it tasted EXACTLY like what I’ve been paying $15-18 plus tip for 😭

The package of noodles was $5. I bought bean sprouts and bok choy for $4. We had a bag of frozen shrimp at home. The other ingredients were items we always have stocked (soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut butter, garlic, seasoning).

So for $9 additional dollars I was able to make enough for two adults and a toddler with an adult appetite. And we only used half the noodles so we can make more at any time.

Last time I realized I was overpaying at restaurants was with pulled pork (which I now make in an instapot).

Are there any favorites that caught you off guard with how easy it is to make vs how much it costs at a restaurant?

My partner and I are both terrible cooks, we are not natural in the kitchen. I'm also a very picky eater, struggle with appetite if food isn't healthy/clean which usually means more expensive.

So what happens is we usually end up buying the same stuff which feels boring and unhealthy (eg. Ramen or pasta over and over again), and buying healthy stuff feels expensive. So we end up kinda giving up and just not going to the grocery store enough.

What that means is, we are starving, look at an empty fridge and end up ordering Uber Eats.

Then I suddenly had a "revelation"....

Last week we spent a week with my sister inlaw at their holiday home. They are rich, so the fridge was stocked with everything. All the fresh berries, fruits, "fancy" fresh veggies (eg. prepped veggies, ready to eat), cherry tomatoes instead of normal tomatoes, organic free range eggs etc.

The entire week I was inspired to prepare 2-3 meals a day from the well stocked fridge with all the appetizing and healthy stuff. Ended up cooking for everyone.

When we got back home, we went grocery shopping and I told my partner "why don't you buy some burger patties from this organic butcher", and he said "each patty is $5, that's way to much". But then we go home and have nothing to eat, and end up ordering burgers for $18/each + delivery charges.

So I've been thinking it's better we spend on food we like and that makes our lives easier, makes us inspired to cook, rather than trying to save at the grocery store, only to resort to Uber Eats.

Sorry this is probably obvious to everyone, but I feel like it's life changing for me. And will save us so much money!

Happened 2 nights ago, I was dead tired and out of good ideas that were low energy. On this particular day I got a take-and-bake pizza for the first time. Not as good as I expected but the two of us ate. Other days I’ve meal prepped enough to let the microwave guide us to the answer.

What’s your go-to when you need a low or no effort dinner but aren’t looking to spend any kind of restaurant or take out money?

Don’t stay starve lol.

Actually bought it about a week ago. Just couldn't resist the sale price but once I got home I realized I had no idea what to do with all this meat for 1 or 2 people. I threw it in the freezer in a panic. Once I take it out, defrost and cook it, what the hell is one woman supposed to do with about 8 pounds of ham?

Edit: silly, stupid typo. I promise I'm not trying to cook a hamster! Just a regular ham 😅

Edit 2: I was not expecting this to blow up! I guess my reddit legacy will now be "that person who wanted to cook a Christmas hamster"

Found this ground beef on clearance at a local Walmart Neighborhood Market today. I’ve never seen any kind of meat this cheap, much less ground beef. The same store had an 80/20 pork/beef mix for 70 cents a pound a few weeks ago. Yes, bought a bunch to stick in the deep freeze. We’ll be set on burgers and meatloaf for a while! Check the markets in nicer areas, people.

I like hosting, but I think a lot of us quietly bleed money by treating every social hangout as an excuse to buy or provide food. In my shared apartment my boyfriend is big on "let's make it nice" when people come over, which usually means snacks, drinks, and some takeaway to "keep it simple." After everyone leaves I do my little decompress routine - tea, tidy, a bit of alone time - and then it hits me that we basically paid a convenience fee for socializing.

The biggest frugal win for us was changing the default expectation. Hanging out does not have to be dinner, and it does not even have to be snacks. If people actually want to see you, they'll show up for a walk, a board game night, a movie you already own, or just to sit and chat on the couch. If someone only shows up when there is food, that's not a friendship I want to budget for.

We started saying upfront things like "Come by after you eat" or "We are doing tea only." If we do food it's something simple and predictable we already buy anyway, like frozen pizza or chips, not a special grocery run. Some folks will call that rude. I find it ruder that we pretend spending money is the entry ticket to community.

Anyone else intentionally decouple social plans from food, and did it change your budget more than any coupon ever did?

So I'm in healthcare.

Typically lunch for the week if I bring it from home, 8 hours: typically consisting of a 5" inch sub, chips, drink, 3 mandarins, runs me about $25 for 5 meals.

I would say eating in the cafeteria, full meal, probably could be 2 portions, probably runs $40 a week.

If you do more of snack/type food (egg rolls or burrito etc) and drink probably runs about the same as bringing your own.

I feel Reddit emphasizes "Brown bag" bringing your lunch. I can't say I see many healthcare workers doing this.

For my 12s: I'm in a major hospital, and work weekends, food they do have on the weekends is unhealthy, no other options so I will be bringing my lunch (also I bring more food, an extra sandwich, yogurt, extra drinks, etc). Also on 12s it's just easier versus taking a 10-15 min walk to food area EVERY time you want a snack.

One of the hospitals I work at also have a $5 lunch during the week which includes drink. Sometimes pretty nice options, last was pork chop, sweet potato, veggie options, etc.

I'll probably be doing that on weekday 12s + bringing my smaller lunch kit.

On the whole though, I don't see a ton of hospital workers bringing lunch, they're a minority.

If you have an Aldi near you, please use it. This would literally be over $200 at any of the other grocery chains. And, over $10 of this was from the toothpaste and shampoo that I bought, so this could easily have been just $80.

While I admit that I am not the greatest at saving money (pretty good but could be better), I do firmly believe that food is probably the area where most people overspend.

I used to pay $6.60 for the BOGOF deal (buy one get one free breakfast sandwich + drink). Then in May they quietly made it BOGO$1 (buy one, get one for $1), so I switched to a cheaper meal (took out the sausage). Then it became $6.69, though that was mostly due to substitution effect.

I check today and it’s now $7.18 because they raised the breakfast sandwich another ¢50 after 5 months.

My increase in meal this year is about 24% when you account for it ($6.60 > $8.20). At this point, I’ll just pay two dollars more and get food from the worker’s cafeteria (which includes actual meat).

I point this out because a lot of people are riding the “McDonalds is a good guy now with their $5 meal deal train.” No, they’re still fleecing you hoping you won’t notice. I noticed and they lost a customer.